Forest Hills coin toss election returned to voters this fall

The voters of Forest Hills will get the chance to weigh in on their preference for mayor this fall after being trumped by a coin toss in the last election.

Sue Burton, a town board member, will once again challenge the sitting mayor, Jim Davis, in a rematch of a tied race from two years ago. In the last race for mayor, both candidates scored 41 votes. That left the fate of the election up to a coin toss, per North Carolina election law. Davis won the coin toss.

The seat for mayor is voted on every two years, and this year Burton decided once again to challenge Davis for the seat of mayor. It’s a more risky proposition this time, however, since Burton had to chose between running for re-election to her current seat on the town board or giving it up to run for mayor.

Town board members serve four-year terms, and two years ago Burton was in the middle of her term. Although she didn’t get mayor, she could still serve out her term on the town board. This year she had to chose which one to run for.

Two years ago, Davis initially came in six votes behind Burton. But six absentee votes for Davis pulled him into the tie position.

There are 325 registered voters in the town of Forest Hills, so clearly a good many didn’t vote last time. If more vote this time, it could diffuse the chance of a yet another tie.